Battle of Jenkins' Ferry

The Battle of Jenkins' Ferry (30 April 1864) was a battle of the American Civil War that occurred when the 12,000-strong Union Department of Arkansas defeated the 10,000-strong Confederate Army of Arkansas southwest of Little Rock while conducting a retreat from Camden. The battle occurred as Union troops withdrew from a feint against Camden, Arkansas, which had been meant to draw Confederate troops away from Shreveport and to allow for Nathaniel P. Banks' army to invade Texas. Due to the failure of the Red River Campaign, Union general Frederick Steele ordered a retreat toward Little Rock, and the 10,000-strong Confederate army of Edmund Kirby Smith and Sterling Price pursued the Union troops. At Jenkins' Ferry, the Union defenders used the smoke and fog to obscure their positions, and the Confederates suffered heavy losses; all three of John George Walker's brigade commanders were wounded, and William Read Scurry and Horace Randal were killed. The Union army was able to retreat in good order, defeating the Confederates.